Collar and neckband construction for clerical garments



1964 J. A. TOOMEY ETAL 3,159,846

COLLAR AND NECKBAND'CONSTRUCTION FOR CLERICAL GARMENTS Filed Jan. 22, 1963 g v INVENTORS JOHN A. TOOMEY I 2 4 28 LAWRENCE T. TOOMEY ATTORNEY United States Patent C 3,159,846 COLLAR AND NECKhAND CONSTRUCTIGN FOR CLERICAL GARMENTS John A. Toomey and Lawrence T. Toomey, both R. J. Toorney,Co., 75 Webster St., Worcester, Mass. Filed .Ian. 22, 1963, Ser. No. 253,138 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-103) This invention relates to a new and improved combined collar and neckband construction particularly adapted for clerical garments and relating principally to a new and improved military collar or neckband.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a combined collar and neckband of the class described in which the military portion of the neckband of the clerical shirt, vest, etc. is completely removable and can be applied to the garment by the wearer, further in combination with a removable collar which is also applied and removed by the wearer, the collar having apertures for the reception of interengaging means such as snap fasteners between the removable military portion of the neckband and the usual neckband on the shirt, vest, etc., thus providing exact location for the military neckband as well as removability, and holding the collar in correct position.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a new and improved military collar construction for clerical garments as above described including means for correctly positioning the collar and themilitary portion of the neckband, said means being provided for instance by snap fasteners which are located on the part of the neckband which is permanently attached to the clerical garment and the military neckband portion thereof which is removable, the collar being held between the two neckband portions, i.e., the permanent neckband portion and the removable military neckband portion.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a clerical vest having a narrow neckband partially encircling the wearers neck, a detachable collar, and a pair of military neckband portions which may be assembled and secured on the outside of the narrow neckband by separable fasteners prior to application of the vest to the wearer, and which vest may be subsequently readily apto the narrow neckband, and thereupon secured around the wearers neck by interengaging separable fasteners provided on overlapping ends of the military neckband portions.

The invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth in the appended claims. Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation illustrating the invention in assemble'drelation, part being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a view in front elevation showing the collar;

FIG. 3 is a view in front elevation showing the garment with the permanently attached neckband. thereon;

FIG. 4 is a view showing one of the detachable military neckband portions;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section on line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a similar section showing a slight modification with respect to the collar, and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged section on line 77 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 10 indicates a more or less conventional clerical garment or the like which may be a vest, shirt, shirtfront, etc. On this garment there is attached a neckband which is indicated by the reference numeralll. In general, the construction of the shirt front, etc. and neckband can be as "ice desired, but the neckband in this case is provided with a series of snap fastening members 14 which as shown are the female portions thereof. The ends of the neckband 12 as at 16 are not provided with snap fasteners, hooks, or buttons, but these may be provided if desired. The neckband as usual is relatively stiff andself-sustaining being generally in circular shape to conform to the neck of the wearer.

The collar which may be either a single member or fold-over type as indicated in FIGS. 5 and 6, is illustrated in FIG. 2 as being a single substantially flat sheet of collar material having however a shape as shown in FIG. 2 for better fit. This collar may be made of any desirable material and is self-sustaining as usual, being provided at the ends if desired with collar-button'holes 18, the collar itself being indicated by the reference numeral 20. It is proposed that this collar may be molded of a suitable plastic material, in which case it will be preferably provided at its upper edge with a slight longitudinal bead 22 so as to be more comfortable to the neck of the wearer.

The essential characteristics which are novel in the present collar residenot only in the fact that it can be made of plastic but that it is provided with a series of holes 24, 24 and 26, 26 and it will be seen that these holes correspond in general to the spacing of the snap fastenrs 14 on neckband'lZ in FIG. 3.

. A novel feature of the present invention is presented by the provision of the separable or detachable military neckband collar portionswhich are indicated at 28. and

30. These are provided in left and right-hand members provided for better fit. These members can if desired have conventional snap fasteners 32 for securing the ends together at the back of the neck.

The essential characteristic of the military portions of the neckband is that they are completely removable and detachable and to this end they are each provided with male snap-fastener portions as for instance 34, these appearing at the rear side only and having embedded means such as flat circular plates 36 for holding the same thereto with a projecting button 38 for cooperation with the openings in the female portions of the snap fasteners at 14. The male parts 38 extend through the holes 24 in the collar and it will be seen therefore that the collar is sandwiched between the more or less permanent neckband 12 and the detachable military portion of the neckband which is indicated at either 28 or 30.

In FIG. 6 there is shown the'same construction but in this case the collar 40 is of the fold-over type rather than the single coplanar type indicated at 20.

In garments of this nature, the military portion of the 'neckband is ordinarily sewed in permanently with respect to the hidden portion of the neckband and the collar is held in more or less conventionally as by collar-buttons or the like. However, the military portion of the neckband which is exposed wears out more quickly than the rest of the garment requiring a tailoring operation to renew it. In the present case, however, the wearer can purchase a new military portion of the neckband and apply it himself. J

More important, however, the parts are all clearly secured and correctly positioned with respect to each other. That is, the military portion of the neckband is snapped or otherwise fastened onto the permanent portion thereof always in thesame location, leaving an exact gap between the inner ends thereof as is indicated at 42 in FIG. 1. This gap is always perfectly centered. The extent of the upper edge of the collar above the military portion of the neckband is always exactly the same and made uniform, although of course all of these parts can be made in different widths as desired by the customer for high, medium or low collars. Therefore not only is the construction improved but the appearance of the collar is greatly improved and the ultimate expense to the wearer is reduced due to the fact that he can replace the military portion of the neckband himself as he may desire. Also, due to the fact that the military portion of the collar is detachable, the entire clerical front or shirt can be dry cleaned which was impossible to do with prior art garments of this type in which the military portion of the collar was permanently attached.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what we claim is:

1. A clerical vest of the type utilizing a military collar, comprising a narrow neckband formed of self-sustaining flexible material of such stiffness as to normally assume a curvature loosely conforming to the curvature of the neck of the wearer, said narrow neckband having an intermediate portion adapted to extend uninterruptedly around the front of the neck of the wearer and opposite end portions adapted to lie against the back portion of the wearers neck, a garment portion attached to the intermediate portion of said narrow neckband and depending therefrom, said garment portion being a discontinuous limp piece of cloth material defined by top, bottom and side edgescovering the front chest portion of the wearer, a detachable singleply collar having plain uninterrupted lower and upper edges, a pair of detachable military neckband portions, interengaging fasteners having separate male and female fastener elements respectively secured oppositely on the narrow neckband and the military neckband portions for separably securing the same together in a certain predetermined relationship, with the detachable military neckband portions outside the narrow neckband with respect to the neck of the wearer, the respective military neckband portions having one pair of corresponding ends spaced from each other and detachably secured by said intcrengaging fasteners to said intermediate portion of said narrow neckband forming a central gap at the front of the vest, and another pair of opposite ends adapted to overlap at the rear of the wearers neck, the collar being positioned between the narrow neckband and the detachable military neckband portions, and holes in the collar between the upper and lower edges thereof, said holes being positioned for receiving the male fastener elements which extend through the holes and engage female fastener elements on the opposite side of the collar, thereby holding the collar in correct position between the military collar portions and the narrow neckband with the upper edge of said collar extending slightly above the military collar to a uniform extent.

2. The clerical vest recited in claim 1, wherein interengaging separable fastener elements are secured to said opposite overlapping ends of said military neckband portions for separably fastening said overlapping ends together.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,804,346 5 31 Kirschenbaum 2-139 2,102,198 12/37 Dickman et al 2-127 2,875,446 3/59 Snincak 2-129 2,934,768 5/60 Williams 2-103 2,934,769 5-/ Toomey et a1 2-129 3,058,119 10/62 Snincak 2-127 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Examiner. 

1. A CLERICAL VEST OF THE TYPE UTILIZING A MILITARY COLLAR, COMPRISING A NARROW NECKBAND FORMED OF SELF-SUSTAINING FLEXIBLE MATERIAL OF SUCH STIFFNESS AS TO NORMALLY ASSUME A CURVATURE LOOSELY CONFORMING TO THE CURVATURE OF THE NECK OF THE WEARER, SAID NARROW NECKBAND HAVING AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION ADAPTED TO EXTEND UNINTERRUPTEDLY AROUND THE FRONT OF THE NECK OF THE WEARER AND OPPOSITE END PORTIONS ADAPTED TO LIE AGAINST THE BACK PORTION OF THE WEARER''S NECK, A GARMENT PORTION ATTACHED TO THE INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF SAID NARROW NECKBAND AND DEPENDING THEREFROM, SAID GARMENT PORTION BEING A DISCONTINUOUS LIMP PIECE OF CLOTH MATERIAL DEFINED BY TOP, BOTTOM AND SIDE EDGES COVERING THE FRONT CHEST PORTION OF THE WEARER, A DETACHABLE SINGLEPLY COLLAR HAVING PLAIN UNINTERRUPTED LOWER AND UPPER EDGES, A PAIR OF DETACHABLE MILITARY NECKBAND PORTIONS, INTERENGAGING FASTENERS HAVING SEPARATE MALE AND FEMALE FASTENER ELEMENTS RESPECTIVELY SECURED OPPOSITELY ON THE NARROW NECKBAND AND THE MILITARY NECKBAND PORTIONS FOR SEPARABLY SECURING THE SAME TOGETHER IN A CERTAIN PREDETERMINED RELATIONSHIP, WITH THE DETACHABLE MILITARY NECKBAND PORTIONS OUTSIDE THE NARROW NECKBAND WITH RESPECT TO THE NECK OF THE WEARER, THE RESPECTIVE MILITARY NECKBAND PORTIONS HAVING ONE PAIR OF CORRESPONDING ENDS SPACED FROM EACH OTHER AND DETACHABLY SECURED BY SAID INTER- 